ACTOR Mark Rylance kept his cool and stayed in character at the weekend when a woman started using her phone as he took to the stage in Twelfth Night at the Apollo theatre in London.

Mark, 52, who plays Olivia in Shakespeare’s play with Stephen Fry as Malvolio, took matters into his own hands when he became distracted by the unnamed woman who tapped away thinking she couldn’t be seen in one of the boxes by the stage.

“He rose from the table on stage, strutted over and wrestled a phone off the woman,” our spy in the audience tells us.

He rose from the table on stage, strutted over and wrestled a phone off the woma

Our audience spy

“He stayed in character, saying in a woman’s voice, ‘Please don’t,’ and the lady tried to hang on to the phone and said ‘I’m sorry’.

“I think Mark managed to take the phone off her and either dropped it back in the box or gave it to the man sitting next to her. He then carried on with the play to loud applause. She didn’t return after the interval.”